11.

Kakashi and Homura slowly moved through the back of the store. Silently placing their feet on the ground, Kakashi led them with a small flashlight in his hand. There wasn't much there though. The back area was mainly just for the staff to take a break, there was the bathroom and a wooden door with a plate "Office" on it. The door was locked and they decided to let it be, as a muffled growl could be heard on the other side.

It was a strange feeling, walking during the night through the store. It was that kind of feeling when you visit a school building at night. You know where you are, where everything is, but you still have that creepy feeling.

"Let's go to the shelves with food... I want to get out of here quickly..." Homura whispered, tightening his grip on the knife.

Kakashi wanted to joke about him being afraid of the dark, but it wasn't the right time. "Sure." He replied.

They reached the white door, there was a bloody handprint at the center, along with some blood smeared around. Knowing that zombies didn't react to the light, but rather sound, Kakashi didn't turn off the flashlight. He silently and slowly opened the door, but they stopped in the middle.

Kakashi stopped and signaled to Homura to get ready. He started slowly applying more and more pressure on the door, slowly pushing it open. Making the first step, he could feel the sole of his boot sticking to the ground, an unpleasant feeling. He didn't even have to look to know it was blood.

Scanning around with a flashlight he saw what was blocking the door. It was a body. Judging by the figure, he concluded it was a woman. Her head was turned into meat paste, repeatedly hit with a blunt object.

"She worked here... Damn." Homura sighed and looked at the corpse. "I probably bought a beer from her earlier..." His whispers had a trace of pity.

"She was your friend?"

"Nah, just saying."

Kakashi shook his head. The area was filled with shelves, making several alleys with different products, from food to even tools. Right now, both of them stood behind the counter with a cash machine on it.

Homura spotted a can of soda laying on the ground. Must belong to the deceased cashier. He pointed to the tool section at the other end of the store, as if asking Kakashi for permission. Understand what he wanted to do, he nodded.

The brown-haired man threw the can with some strength, sending it flying above the shelves until it hit something, creating a very loud noise. Something even fell to the ground.

Instantly, several grunts and growls could be heard throughout the store, from between the alleys. They could hear as the zombies moved through the store in complete darkness, sometimes knocking down something from the shelves or hitting each other.

"Go from the left," Kakashi said quietly and after they left their bags behind the counter, they headed towards the same spot the walkers went. Homura nodded and disappeared into the darkness.

As he moved, Kakashi had to avoid cans, tins, packs, and other things scattered around. Walking past the fallen shelf, he noticed half of the man stuck under the furniture. The man had a wound on the side of the head and wasn't moving, but just in case he gently kicked one of the cans laying on the ground. The item rolled until it hit the side of the shelf making a small noise.

Suddenly the trapped man started flapping his arm around, trying to reach whatever made the sound. 'What a cliché trap...' He sighed mentally and struck the zombie with his blade, right on the top of the head.

A few steps later he arrived where the walkers gathered. Counting the swaying zombies, there was 7 of them. Two were just a few feet away, four were slowly walking back to the alleys, and the last one was where Homura should come from. And as he thought about it, he saw the man approaching the unfortunate zombie.

Both of them attack their targets at the same time. Kakashi jumped on the first monster and drove his black knife through its eye. Before the body could fall, he used it as leverage and dropkicked the second one in the center of its back. The zombie flew like a ragdoll and crashed into two of the four walkers.

The noise triggered the zombies as the only two standing rushed at Kakashi. Staying cool, Kakashi grabbed a hand hammer from the shelf and faced the incoming walkers. He swung his left hand instantly, smashing the hammer on the head of a chubby zombie. The hit was a little too strong as he could feel that the tool stuck inside the skull, but instead of trying to take it out, he let go of it.

The second walker shot his arms at him, baring his teeth at Kakashi's flesh, but the man grabbed its arm and performed a classic judo throw. Not even a second later, the body of the walker went limp as Kakashi stabbed it in its left eye, reaching the infected brain.

During his fight, he could hear the ruckus behind him but it quickly went silent. Looking in that direction, the light fell on Homura who was covered in dark blood. In his right hand was a crowbar, blood was dripping on the ground.

"Shit. I need new clothes." Homura complained wiping the blood from his new weapon. The bodies of the three walkers were laying under his feet.

"Same." Said Kakashi. His suit jacket, though it was black, had visible stains. And it reeked of dried and fresh blood.

"You think it's all of them?" Homura asked standing on his toes, trying to see above the shelves.

"I think so. I didn't hear anything else. Let's switch the light on. It would be a drag going around with a flashlight."

"Yeah, right. The switch should be behind the counter. Oh, and fetch my bag if you are going there anyway."

A tired sigh escaped Kakashi's mouth. "Sure, sure..." He scratched his cheek through his mask. "Go and check if the front door is locked."

"Okaay~."

******

A few minutes later the two men could be seen inside the store, walking between the shelves and putting items inside their black bags. Each of them had a small piece of paper with needed stuff written on them.

"Should we take something sweet?" Homura asked somewhere from the store. They were speaking openly as they cleared the store and made sure the doors were locked.

"Yeah, but only chocolate. It's sweet and high in calories." Kakashi answered as he brushed through the shelf with medicine. Unfortunately, there weren't any antibiotics, only things for sore throat, headaches, or diarrhea. "Fuck. At least I've got some painkillers and something for flu." The flu medicine would become handy as the season for that illness was coming.

"Okay, got everything. Let's go back. I want to have some sleep." Homura yawned and shook his head strongly to get rid of his tiredness.

Kakashi glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was almost 10 pm. "Yeah, let's go. But wait. We blocked the back door. You want to lift that machine?" He wasn't keen on the idea of lifting that.

"Of course not!" He snorted. "On the back should be doors leading to the second part of the building. The keys should be in the manager's office."

Kakashi then remembered that they walked past the door that led to the office. He also remembered the noise coming from the inside and sighed. "Your idea, you make it work." He said and walked behind the counter, heading to the back of the shop.

"Wait, what? It's not how it works! I gave the idea so you should carry it out! Hey! Don't make me scream!"

"Scream and I will leave you behind with holes in your knees."

"Ha! I know you wouldn't waste bullets on me! Which is pretty sad when I said it out loud..." Homura started thinking about their friendship and concluded that yeah, he could leave him to death if he crossed some borders. But that didn't change a fact that he was Homura's best friend anyway!

****

Takashi was nodding off sitting on a couch, he had his baseball bat between his legs. Kohta was soundly sleeping on the second couch, tightly wrapped in a blanket. The room was semi-lit as Takashi didn't want to disrupt his friend's sleep.

There were just the two of them, as the girls decided to sleep in Nino's room which could easily fit another group of them. They took spare futons and prepared their sleep space. Though he knew they weren't asleep as he could hear occasional laughter or small shout from the upstairs.

He still thought of their conversation he eavesdrop on several minutes ago. It wasn't like he wanted to! He was just passing by and they weren't talking particularly quietly, so!

Anyway, he had a new image of Kakashi. At first, he thought he was just a normal, former cop or trained bodyguard from the beginning, but after what he heard...

At that moment a rustling sound came from the door. The sleepiness washed away instantly as Takashi grabbed a bat and slowly walked to the front door. He took a deep breath.

The door opened as he took a swing, but stopped mid-way. 'The hell I'm doing? "Them" wouldn't have a key.' He sighed and put down his weapon.

When the door fully opened, a figure of Homura with some dark blood on his face came into Takashi's view. The man was surprised at the youngster's presence.

"Well, not the welcoming I would want and expect... Can I change you to Miss Shizuka or that sword-girl?"

Takashi rolled his eyes and walked back to his couch before slumping on it and covering himself with a blanket. "Piss off."

"Huh. That's not how you treat the elder- ouch!"

"Don't stand in the doorway!" Kakashi kicked him in the ass with an annoying expression.